Mindful use of technology could reduce workplace burnout, study finds

Researchers at the University of Nottingham found that employees who use technology more mindfully are less likely to experience technostress, exhaustion and poor mental wellbeing. 

The team developed and tested the Digital Mindfulness Scale, a tool to measure how deliberately and attentively people use technology at work. 

The 15-item Digital Mindfulness Scale covered intention, attention and attitude when using technology. 

Workers who scored higher on the scale reported lower technostress, exhaustion and better mental wellbeing a month later, even after accounting for general mindfulness and other factors.

Elizabeth Marsh, PhD researcher at the School of Psychology, said: “Digital mindfulness – engaging with our devices and applications in a deliberate, attentive and non-reactive way – appears to be a genuinely protective resource for well-being in the modern workplace.”

“Crucially, digital mindfulness is something that can be developed. Simple habits – setting an intention before picking up a device, protecting your attention from notifications, and meeting digital frustrations with self-compassion rather than self-criticism – can all help. 

“The new scale gives researchers and organisations a reliable way to measure this capacity and to test whether such approaches actually work.”

The research found that digital mindfulness can be built by developing individual skills like intention-setting and attention management, and by introducing workplace measures like norms around notifications and the right to disconnect.